PARIS: — The Nobel Peace Prize-winning relief organization Médecins Sans Frontières has unleashed a storm of controversy through its decision to stop accepting donations for victims of the Asian tsunamis, adding a new dimension to the outpouring of generosity from wealthy countries in response to the disaster.

MSF says the €40 million, or $53 million, it has collected since the deadly wave hit 13 nations in the Indian Ocean and killed about 150,000 people on Dec. 26 is enough to finance its work in the region. While funds are sorely needed for other areas of the world, like Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo, MSF has pledged not to shift earmarked donations from one region to another.

"It's the first time that we have taken such a decision," Pierre Salignon, director general of MSF, said on the organization's Internet site. "This may appear to run completely counter to the atmosphere of general mobilization, but it's a question of honesty: We don't want to bother the public for operations that are already financed."

The announcement highlighted the gulf between the charitable giving for the heavily mediatized Asian disaster compared with crises in areas devastated by chronic poverty and civil war that have gotten little attention and money over the years. It also drew criticism from other, less affluent, aid groups, who said it risked drying up funds vital to their own more long-term relief efforts.

Sylvain Trottier, spokesman for Action Contre la Faim, a French nongovernmental organization committed to relieving hunger in the developing world, said he was "astounded" by the way MSF presented its decision.

"That they have enough funds and are honest about it is commendable," Trottier said. "But their announcement sort of suggests that they are honest and everybody else isn't. And we really worry that it will signal to the public that all NGOs have enough money for Asia which is plainly wrong."

ACF has so far collected €2.6 million for tsunami relief work, of which most was already spent. The organization's longer term plans, involving mainly water purification and efforts to rebuild people's livelihoods, are not yet financed, Trottier said.

Across the border in neighboring Germany, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, another hunger relief group, is in a similar situation. In the Bonn-based headquarters of the organization, MSF's decision has also sparked surprise and little comprehension.

"We need every penny," said Hans-Joachim Preuss, secretary general of Welthungerhilfe. "MSF didn't make it clear that they are an organization that focuses just on emergency relief — we do longer term work."

According to Preuss, MSF should have coupled the suspension of its emergency relief fund for Asia with an appeal to donors to give to other organizations.

In a sign of how broadly MSF's announcement had spread unease across Europe's aid community, the French government stepped up Wednesday, urging citizens and companies to keep giving.

"There are nongovernmental organizations that need funds, so contributions are always welcome," said Jean-François Copé, France's budget minister. "We have to keep sending contributions to associations that need them."

Meanwhile, many acknowledge that MSF's decision sparked an overdue debate about the links between the media coverage of crises and the extent of charitable giving in response to them.

"The media keeps it on TV and that plays a huge role," said Devorah Goldburg, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross in Washington. "People are getting bombarded with the images day and night."

In addition to the sheer scale of the destruction the tsunamis caused, the presence of thousands of Western tourists, that allowed many in the safety of their American and European homes to identify with the crisis, helped to boost donations significantly, aid experts say.

It also helps that as the victims of a natural disaster they are free of all political baggage, unlike other deprived people caught in the midst of civil wars or other conflicts. Add to that the fact that the waves hit a day after Christmas and the circumstances for charitable giving were optimal, the experts say.

If MSF collected €40 million in eight days for Asia, it took the organization two months to gather €650,000 for the victims of civil war in Darfur. After the earthquake in Bam, Iran, a year ago, they only collected €600,000. And when it comes to malnutrition that kills hundreds of thousands in places like Mongolia, Haiti and the Congo, donations only trickle in.

"The real tragedy is that every day tens of thousands die of hunger and poverty-related disease," said Preuss. "If you add up a month of those deaths you surpass the Tsunami toll — but hunger and civil war are much less sexy for the media."